Baroness
Baroness are a progressive metal/rock band from Savannah, Georgia. Active since 2003, this Savannah-based quartet has constantly evolved from a sludge/post-hardcore act in their early days to a band that is constantly evolving in rock dynamics. By the release of 2009's Blue the band embraced more of a progressive rock sound with subtle elements of post-metal, sludge and post-rock. Accentuating their ever-changing sound is guitarist/lead vocalist John Dyer Baizley's artwork on every release with goddess-like women and nature-based settings. Since the band has released albums in 2007, each album has a title and complimenting artwork in a color theme, beginning with that year's Red. The band has achieved significant critical acclaim as their sound managed to evolve and their fanbase began to swell, eventually touring all over the world with a host of varying musical acts. Notably the band itself is also one of the key players in Georgia's sludge scene. Since their formation, Baroness has four studio albums to date with a fifth in the works. History Sludgy Beginnings and Red (2003 - 2007) Baroness formed in the Summer 2003 in Savannah, GA, United States with all members, past and present, hailing from Lexington, VA in the foothills of the mighty Blue Ridge Mountains. Early on the band's sound resembled sludge with post-hardcore and thrash elements, Baizley and Summer Welch's vocals resembling deep, husky growls. While little is known about their earliest shows it is known the band would quickly sign to Hyperrealist for their First EP, released on 3 August 2004. Gaining a bit of a buzz early on, the band would release Second on 5 July 2005, with the band touring Europe and North America in support. Tim Loose would also leave the band soon after with Brian Blickle as his replacement. Following a tour with Torche in Europe, Baroness would begin work on new material including their debut studio album. On 6 April 2007, Relapse Records would sign Baroness as they would go to the Jam Room, working with Phillip Cope (Damad, Kylesa) to record their debut album.Lambgoat By 8 June the album had been completed.Lambgoat In the meantime the band's "third" EP would be released as a split with Unpersons entitled A Grey Sigh in a Flower Husk (26 June 2007). This release, featuring two songs spanning nearly twenty minutes, displays more progressive elements as signs of a tonal shift began. Touring through the summer with the likes of High on Fire, Coliseum and Witchcraft among others, Red Album would be released on 4 September 2007. Showing a major shift in musical tone with more progressive elements and cleaner vocals, Red Album would attain significant critical acclaim and even being named "Album of The Year" by Revolver Magazine.Magazine, 2007 Issue Baroness would spend nearly the entirety of 2008 on the road in support of the album, touring with the likes of Kylesa, Young Widows, Converge, Coheed and Cambria, Ministry and Opeth among others. Brian Blickle would leave the band following the band's performance at Hovefestivalen on 23 June 2008, deciding to go back to school to pursue a law degree. The band would recruit Peter Adams (Valkyrie) as the band's new guitarist.Lambgoat The Sweetest Curse: Blue (2009 - 2010) On 6 May 2009 after touring Europe (Including appearances at Scion RockFest, Roadburn Festival and Asymmetry Festival) Baroness announced that they would be in Dallas, Texas with producer John Congleton to record their sophomore album.Lambgoat This would follow with a tour opening for Clutch, which they'd drop off from towards the end due to family concerns. On 13 October 2009, Blue Record was released via Relapse. A record release show was hosted at The Jinx in Savannah on 17 October with Unnamed and Kylesa.last.fm Drawing to more of a progressive metal sound with nature-based influences and a subtle sludge undertone, Blue Record would debut at #1 on the Billboard Heatseekers Charts and attain widespread critical acclaim. Holding a score of 87 on MetacriticMetacritic, the band also gained high ratings from AllMusic (5 Stars)AllMusic and Pitchfork (8.5/10)Pitchfork among other publications. By the end of the year (While the band was on a headlining tour of North America) Blue Record would be named Decibel's album of the year for 2009 and even the 20th greatest album in metal history by LA Weekly.LA Weekly In a similar fashion to the tour in support for the Red Album, Baroness would hit the road and tour the world over in support of Blue Record, but with some new locales along the way. The band would begin the touring cycle in Europe and then follow as part of the Soundwave Festival in Australia with ISIS, also performing in Japan for the first time with ISIS. By Spring the band had toured with Mastodon and made appearances at two of the biggest US festivals in Coachella and Bonnaroo. Following a host of European festival appearances in the summer, the band would be supporting Deftones through North America and then closing the year supporting Metallica on their Australia and New Zealand leg of their "World Magnetic" tour. In an interview with Metal Insider, Baizley would speak about the process of what they wanted and the direction the band felt they were headed with Blue Record: Take My Bones Away: Yellow & Green (2011 - 2014) Baroness would take most of 2011 off to begin work on their third album, only performing a couple dates through the entirety of the year (Chaos in Tejas and Best Friends Day). At some point in 2012, Summer Welch would leave the group with Matt Maggioni as his replacement. On 11 April 2012, the band would announce their first details on their new album, including it being a double-album and a release date. On 17 July 2012 Yellow & Green would be released, peaking at 32 on The Billboard 200 with 12,000 copies sold in it's first week. The album would get favorable reviews, overall an 82/100 score on Metacritic. On 15 August 2012 during the tail end of the band's European tour Baroness' tour bus would veer off the road and plunge thirty feet, crashing near Bath, England. At the time of the crash, the driver and passenger were trapped in the vehicle for several hours while the remaining passengers (nine in all, including the band) were all injured in some capacity.Lambgoat Two days later further details on whom was injured in the crash would be revealed. Peter Adams suffered minor injuries but was able to leave the next day. Matt Maggioni and Brian Blickle both suffered fractured vertebrae, remaining in the hospital for several days. Lastly, John Baizley had suffered a broken left arm and left leg due to being in the passenger's seat (The driver himself also suffered major injuries and remained in critical condition for several days).Lambgoat On 27 August 2012 all members of the band were released from the hospital, also canceling the remaining live performances of 2012 (Including appearances at House of Vans, FYF Fest, Hopscotch Music Festival, Fun Fun Fun Fest and a headlining appearance at Doomslang.Consequence of Sound On 2 October, John Baizley would issue details on the bus crash on Baroness' official page: During the time of recovery, Baroness would announce a host of shows for the summer. John Baizley performed an acoustic set and artwork exhibition on 14, 15 and 16 March 2013 at SXSW in Austin, Texas. In addition, Baroness made plans to perform at festivals such as Chaos in Tejas, Free Press Summer Festival and Heavy MTL in Montreal, Quebec. However on 25 March 2013, Maggioni and Blickle both left the band largely due to the injuries sustained from the crash.Lambgoat On 1 April 2013 the band announced a North American tour with new members Nick Jost (Bass) and Sebastian Thomson (Drums), with the band's first date back on the road being on 24 May at Union Transfer in Philadelphia, PA. The band's 2013 North American tour would also see appearances at Bonnaroo, Lollapalooza, FYF Fest and Bumbershoot. The fall would see a return to Europe with Royal Thunder. The band's touring cycle for Yellow & Green would finish in early 2014 as part of the Soundwave Music Festival in Australia alongside Mastodon and Gojira. Following those shows, work would begin on a new album. Morningstar: Purple and Fifth Album (2015 - Present) On 28 August 2015 during a tour of Europe, Baroness would premiere a new song in "Chlorine and Wine" along with announcing their fourth studio album. The album was produced by Dave Fridmann (The Flaming Lips, MGMT) at Tarbox Road Studios in the secluded town of Cassadaga, New York and would be released on their own label imprint Abraxan Hymns.Lambgoat The second single from the album, "Shock Me," was released on 15 November 2015 and it reached #28 on the Mainstream Rock Tracks chart in the US. Purple would be released on 18 December 2015 to widespread critical acclaim and overall an 85/100 score on Metacritic. The album was included at number 23 on Rock Sound's top 50 releases of 2015 list and at number 7 on Rolling Stone's Best Metal Albums of 2015 list. Baroness would tour all over the world in support of Purple throughout 2016 including Europe, Mexico, Canada, The United States and Australia.Last.fm On 6 December 2016 it would be announced that the song "Shock Me" would be nominated for "Best Metal Performance" at the 2017 Grammy Awards (Though ultimately it would lose out to "Dystopia" by Megadeth).Lambgoat 2017 would see some changes for the band along with some unique performances, mainly starting the year with a string of performances leading up to a return appearance at Roadburn Festival (With Baizley as that year's curator.). It would also prove to be one of the final performances for Peter Adams in the group as it would be announced on 1 June 2018 that he left the group amicably to focus on family life.Lambgoat The band would recruit Gina Gleason as their new lead guitarist and vocalist going into a headlining tour with Pallbearer, a tour of Europe and an appearance at OzzFest Meets KnotFest. With a host of announced appearances (Rock on The Range, Carolina Rebellion, Heavy Montreal) among touring the band had begun recording a new album on 15 June 2018, set for either a late 2018 or early 2019 release.Lambgoat On 12 March 2019 the band would unveil the full art for their fifth studio album Gold & Grey with a release date yet to be determined: Discography Studio Albums *Red Album (2007, Relapse) *Blue Record (2009, Relapse) *Yellow & Green (2012, Relapse) *Purple (2015, Abraxan Hymns) *Gold & Grey (2019?, Abraxan Hymns) Other Releases *First (EP) (2004, Hyperrealist) *Second (EP) (2005, Hyperrealist) *High on Fire/Coliseum/Baroness (Split with High on Fire, Coliseum) (2007, Relapse) *A Grey Sigh in a Flower Husk (Split with Unpersons) (2007, At A Loss Recordings) *Live at Maida Vale (Live Album) (2013, Relapse) Members Current Members *'John Dyer Baizley' – Rhythm Guitar, Lead Vocals, Artwork (2003 - Present) *'Gina Gleason' - Lead Guitar, Vocals (2017 - Present) *'Nick Jost' - Bass (2013 - Present) *'Sebastian Thomson' - Drums, Percussion (2013 - Present) Former Members *'Allen Blickle' – Drums (2003 - 2013) *'Summer Welch' – Bass, Vocals (2003 - 2012) *'Tim Loose' – Guitar (2003 – 2005) *'Brian Blickle' – Guitar (2006 – 2008) *'Peter Adams' – Lead Guitar, Vocals (2008 - 2017) *'Matt Maggioni' – Bass (2012 – 2013) List of Known Tours *'2005 European Tour' (With Capricorns) (2005) *'2005 North American Tour' (2005) *'2006 European Tour' (With Torche) (2006) *'2007 Summer Tour' (With High on Fire, Coliseum) (2007) *'Red Album North American Tour' (2007)Lambgoat *'2007 East Coast Mini-Tour' (Select dates with Radio Moscow, Witchcraft) (2007)Lambgoat *'2008 European Tour' (With Kylesa) (2008)Lambgoat *'March 2008 North American Tour' (With Young Widows) (2008)Lambgoat *'Lions For Lambs' (With Converge, The Red Chord, Genghis Tron) (2008)Lambgoat *'May 2008 North American Tour' (With Coheed and Cambria) (2008)Lambgoat *'June 2008 European Tour' (Select dates with Ministry) (2008) *'Aggressive Tendencies' (With Genghis Tron, Bison B.C.) (2008)Lambgoat *'Fall 2008 North American Tour' (With Opeth, High on Fire) (2008)Lambgoat *'November 2008 North American Tour' (With Minsk, Coliseum) (2008)Lambgoat *'2009 European Tour' (2009)Lambgoat *'Strange Cousins From The West North American Tour' (With Clutch, Lionize; Baroness dropped off from some dates) (2009)LambgoatLambgoat *'Blue Album North American Tour' (With Earthless, U.S. Christmas, Iron Age, Dark Castle) (2009)Lambgoat *'Blue Album European Tour' (2010)Lambgoat *'Blue Album Australian Tour' (As part of Soundwave Festival, individual dates with Oren Ambarchi) (2010) *'2010 Japan Tour' (With ISIS) (2010) *'2010 North American Tour' (With Mastodon, Between The Buried and Me, Valiant Thorr) (2010)Lambgoat *'Blue Record Summer European Tour' (2010) *'Diamond Eyes North American Tour' (With Deftones) (2010)Lambgoat *'World Magnetic New Zealand/Australian Tour' (With Metallica, Lamb of God) (2010)Lambgoat *'The Ophidian Trek' (With Meshuggah, Decapitated) (2012)Lambgoat *'Yellow & Green European Tour' (2012)Lambgoat *'Yellow & Green North American Tour (First Leg)' (2012)Lambgoat *'Yellow & Green North American Tour (Second Leg)' (2012)Lambgoat *'Yellow & Green 2013 European Tour' (With Royal Thunder) (2013) Lambgoat *'Yellow & Green Australian Tour' (As part of Soundwave Festival; With Mastodon, Gojira) (2014)Last.fm *'Purple European Tour' (2015)Lambgoat *'Purple North American Tour' (2015)Lambgoat *'Purple 2016 European Tour' (2016)Lambgoat *'Purple 2016 North American Tour' (2016)Lambgoat *'2016 North American Tour' (With Pallbearer) (2016)Lambgoat *'2018 European Tour' (2018)Lambgoat *'2019 Spring North American Tour' (With Deafheaven, Zeal and Ardor) (2019) *'2019 South American Tour' (2019)LSDR Records Facebook External Links *Baroness on Bandcamp *Baroness on Facebook *Baroness on Instagram *Baroness on MySpace *Baroness on YouTube *Baroness on LambGoat (Archival Material) *Baroness on Last.fm (Archival Material) References Category:Band Category:Savannah Category:Georgia Category:Sludge Metal Category:Progressive Rock Category:Progressive Metal Category:Baroness Category:USA Category:Relapse Records Category:Hyperrealist Category:John Dyer Baizley